Title: One Eye Open
Spoiler: CSI up to season 3
Summary: It's been a year since Nick had a stalker. Nick's scary brush with death comes back in a terrifying manner when he finds out that his stalker has kidnapped his sister. Nick and the Las Vegas Crime Lab race against the clock to find Nick's sister before it's too late.
Disclaimer: I only own what you do not recognize. CSI Belongs to Jerry Bruckheimer and all of those smart people who created these fine CSI series.
My Note: Here is the final chapter! I've had fun doing this little story. Credit goes to ScarletMoonRanger for the initial idea. I will be returning to Lips of Pink soon, but I am doing NaNo so I will hopefully be busy with that. But I will definitely be returning to Lips of Pink before the end of the year. Thank you to everyone who read this!
Chapter 5: Within Reach
The door was open. Nick was on the other side, but he looked…wrong. His eyes were wide with fright and he was shaking like a leaf.
Donna stood rooted in her spot. What was wrong with her brother?
"He's coming. He's always there. He never leaves you. Never," he was whispering.
"Who Nick? Who?" Donna asked, her voice quaking with emotion.
Nick locked eyes with his sister. "Nigel!" he whispered.
And then the world went black.
When she woke up she was back in the basement. This time, she was tied up to a metal shelf. Nigel had wrapped a rope around her chest and the shelf, preventing her from moving at all. Her legs were also tied together.
She couldn't remember how she got here. She remembered opening the door and seeing the hallway. She was so close. And then she blacked out.
And now she was tied up again.
Nick was never going to find her.
Nigel was going to kill her.
This was how she was going to die: tied up and broken.
Donna cried as she sat there. All of the anger and hopelessness poured out of her in the form of salty tears. She cried until her sides hurt and then she cried some more.
When she was done crying, the room fell silent. Donna had no more tricks up her sleeve. If the CSIs couldn't find her soon, she was doomed.
Nick was getting antsy. He was still in the lounge, waiting. He had heard whispers of a possible building where Donna might be, but no one had come to him directly. He assumed they didn't want him to run off on his own. And they were right to not tell him. If given the chance, he would absolutely run off to find Donna. It had been more than a day since she was taken.
It had been too long.
Grissom had been watching Nick as closely as he could. They were waiting for a warrant before they could go to the apartment complex. Grissom knew Donna was running out of time, but if they went in before the warrant, they wouldn't be able to get any evidence and they wouldn't be able to put Crane behind bars.
Although putting him behind bars the first time didn't seem to do anything.
Grissom wanted to comfort Nick, but what could he say? The hope of finding Donna alive grew weaker with every hour that passed. Nick knew that.
They all knew that. But you couldn't push the evidence. Blood sampling took time; tracking down fertilizer purchases took time. Evidence took time.
As the sun came up, Grissom had readied himself to accept the worst: Donna was dead. There was no reason why Crane would keep her alive for so long, was there? Unless he was waiting for something, but what?
A knock on his door brought Grissom out of his thoughts. He looked up and found Det. Vartann waiting in the doorway.
"I got it," he said simply. Grissom's stomach dropped. This was it. They would go to the apartment and either they would find Donna or they wouldn't.
"Let's go."
They had brought Nick along, just in case they found Donna alive. However, Nick was forced to wait in the back of Grissom's SUV with an armed guard. Grissom couldn't risk Nick compromising the scene, in case…
In case she was dead.
Grissom and the other CSIs waited while Vartann and the cops issued the warrant to the landlord. The older man was shocked that they thought someone was being held on his land, but he didn't try to stop them. He couldn't, of course, but his cooperation was good.
The cops began searching and the CSIs were finally allowed onto the property to help search. Grissom and Catherine stuck with Vartann as they began to search the buildings. They started with any storage sheds or basements.
The apartment complex was made up of six different buildings, all filled with apartments. As they finished their search of the second building, Grissom began to wonder if she was there or if she ever had been.
The trio made their way into the basement of the third building. Each basement had six different rooms in the basements. Two were laundry rooms and the others were used for storage.
Grissom kept behind Vartann as they moved from room to room. Besides the sounds of the washers and dryers, it was quiet. Too quiet.
It unnerved Grissom.
The last door in the basement stood before them. Grissom had lost hope that they would find Donna. It would be another empty room. Another disappointment.
The hurt would be worse for Nick when they returned without Donna. Grissom didn't want Nick to lose his sister.
Vartann turned the doorknob and pulled, but the door was locked. He looked back at Grissom. None of the other rooms had been locked.
Grissom and Catherine backed up and waited as Vartann began kicking the door in. On the third kick, the door flew back.
Donna wriggled and wriggled, trying to get out of the ropes, but to no avail. She was well and truly stuck.
And then she heard a noise. Someone was trying to open the door. Donna began to panic. If it was Nigel again, he might actually kill her this time.
The rope burned her wrists and arms as she tried to pull out of it. She ignored the pain that hit her all over her body. She had to get out.
A loud thud shook her out of her thoughts. Did he forget the key? Why would he be hitting the door?
Donna's mouth went dry as her eyes focused on the door.
On the third try, the door sprang open with wood splintering off. Her jaw dropped as two familiar people entered the room.
This time, Donna wept for joy.
Nick was reunited with his sister outside of the apartment. They cried as they held onto each other, both almost unbelieving that they found one another again.
As she cried, Donna whispered the same words again and again, "I knew you'd find me."
It wasn't until she was on the way to the hospital with Nick at her side that she asked about Nigel. They hadn't found him.
He was still out there.
Donna felt like she was trapped in some horror movie. If he was still out there, he could still hurt her.
Donna was in the hospital for just a few days. During that time, Grissom had come to tell them that the cops found Nigel, dead. Even knowing he was dead, Donna still worried.
Nick was so apologetic. He spilled the truth of what had happened to him a year earlier. Donna couldn't believe it. She made him promise he wouldn't keep things like that from her anymore. They were family and family had to be honest with one another.
Donna couldn't go back to his apartment, as much as she tried. Every time she got close, she started to have a panic attack. So she got set up in a hotel. She needed to go back to Texas to go back to work, but she didn't know how she could possibly focus on work. She was still a mess.
She had nightmares and even during the day she had hallucinations. She kept seeing Nigel coming for her.
He may be dead, but he was still very much alive in her subconscious.
Nick had the same problem. He found it hard to sleep because he kept having nightmares about Donna being kidnapped again.
Eventually, Donna had to go home. She didn't want to go back to an empty house, but she couldn't stay in Las Vegas.
Before she left, Donna visited the Crime Lab to say goodbye. After saying goodbye, and thank you to Warrick, Catherine, and Sara, Donna found herself in Grissom's office. She sat in the chair in front of his desk quietly as he stared at her, a smile on his face.
"I really have to thank you for finding me," she told him.
Grissom nodded. "There's nothing to thank. In fact, it would be rude to thank me."
Donna narrowed her eyes in confusion. "How would it be rude? You saved my life."
Grissom frowned and took of his glasses. He gazed at Donna with such an odd expression. "Donna, you know we didn't save you."
Donna's heart began to beat quickly and her mouth went dry. "No. No, you saved me. You and Vartann and Catherine. You were there!"
Grissom shook his head and leaned back. "You're still dreaming and you know it. We never found you. How could we? We were never looking. Why should we?"
Donna stood up quickly, knocking over her chair. "No, no, no. You found me," she murmured over and over, her hands clasped over her ears.
"NO!" she screamed.
Donna jolted upright in her bed, screaming at the top of her lungs," you found me! You found me!" She screamed over and over until a nurse ran in her room.
She was alive. She was in the hospital. It was just a nightmare.
When Nick came to see her that day, she asked him again and again if Nigel was dead. He confirmed it as many times as she asked.
How could she ever get over this? How could she ever be normal again?
Nick was patient with her and he did his best to calm her down, but finally he called their parents. Donna was going to need someone to stay with her when she went back to Texas. As much as he wanted to, Nick couldn't go with her.
Once again, he sold his apartment and found somewhere new to live. It helped his own nightmares a little bit, but he was still wracked with guilt.
Their parents came, furious that they hadn't been told of her kidnapping, and took Donna home. They spoke with Nick and tried to calm him down.
Nick called his sister almost every day. She didn't return to school that year. How could she? She stayed in Dallas with their parents and when Nick got time off, he flew down to see her.
The first time he was able to visit her was six months later. He arrived at their parent's house and found her sitting on her bed. She greeted him with a smile and a hug.
"How are you, Donna?" he asked as he sat on the edge of her bed.
Donna shrugged. "It's getting easier. I keep having that dream though." Donna looked down at her hands in her lap.
"The one where Grissom tells you we never found you?"
"Yup. I don't wake up screaming anymore. I guess I've gotten to the point where I recognize it's a dream, but why Grissom? Why is it Grissom that tells me?" Donna looked up at her brother, confusion written across her face.
Nick shrugged. "Maybe because you know Grissom is straightforward and doesn't lie. Maybe your subconscious knows you can trust him."
Donna chuckled. "Don't tell him I dream about him. It'll make my next visit weird."
Nick laughed. "So you plan to visit again?"
Donna's smile fell off her face. "Of course, Nick. I've been knocked down, but I'm not out. With help, I'm getting better. I'll come back to Vegas and I'll work again and I'll be happy. It doesn't end like this."
